Canadian Internet Use Survey

February 10, 2021

Since the release of the 2018 Canadian Internet Use Survey (CIUS) microdata file, it was noticed that the ‘Valid skip’ (valid skip = 6) and the ‘Not stated’ (not stated = 9) were missing from some of the ‘Universe statements’ in the Codebook (data dictionary).

 

In general, this issue only impacts questions that rely on a flow from a previous question. Please refer to the questionnaire flow document to ensure that you are using the proper universe when conducting research and creating indicators.

 

Note, this issue is in the process of being corrected and  a new version of the 2018 CIUS codebook will be released when it becomes available.

Level of geography in the Canadian Internet Use Survey (CIUS)

Question

I have a pair of researchers wanting to find out about Canadians’ internet use at a lower level of geography than is available in CIUS 2012 PUMF. They want information for eight communities.

Is there any way they could find out, for example, the proportion of people who use the web to shop online or read the news at a level of geography like that?

Answer

We do have CIUS 2012 data in the RDC’s if the client is interested in accessing the data please refer to the application process:http://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/rdc/process

On the RDC files, the Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) and Census Agglomerations (CA) are the lowest level of geography available to create reliable estimates.

Canadian Internet Use Survey

Question

I would like to confirm that the Canadian Internet Use Survey has been cancelled. If I am correct about this, is there somewhere that this is written down for reference purposes?


Answer

The division responsible for this survey has confirmed that Industry Canada sponsored a redesigned 2010 Canadian Internet Use Survey (CIUS). This survey is now back from the field and an initial release for the CIUS 2010 data is planned for Spring 2011. There however remains some uncertainty for a CIUS beyond the 2010 reference year. We will be sure to provide you with updates as more information becomes available.

At the moment, there are no plans to produce a 2009 PUMF. The author division explained that they are now a full cost recovery area. The 2009 CIUS was sponsored by Industry Canada as a full cost-recovery survey and a PUMF was not part of the deliverables. The earlier cycles were funded through the PRDG (of the Policy Research Initiative) under a MOU with the PUMF as a deliverable. This being said, the division would be pleased to undertake this additional work should funding become available.

I hope that this information is helpful. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

New Files on Statistics Canada Nesstar

Hello

We are pleased to inform you that the following files are now available on the Statistics Canada Nesstar Webview site (http://www62.statcan.ca).

Labour Force Survey (LFS), September, October 2010

Canadian Internet Use Survey (CIUS), 2007 - Modification on Nesstar
The G_HQUINT variable had been added as a weight in CIUS 2007 on Nesstar. This has been corrected.

Anyone can view the metadata for these files on the Statistics Canada Nesstar site. Only DLI Contacts however will be able to access the data files on the site. If you are a DLI Contact and would like to access and manipulate data files on the Statistics Canada Nesstar site, please send an email to dli-idd@statcan.gc.ca to request a password. Please note that the DLI data files available through Nesstar are subject to the DLI license agreement.

Internet Use by Children

Question

Does anyone know, offhand, if stats are collected on internet usage by children under 15? I can find all sorts of surveys, but the lowest age I can find is 15.

Answer

The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) collected data on computer and internet use by children under 15. You can locate examples of the types of questions used to collect these data by doing a quick search for "Internet" in the questionnaires for NLSCY cycle 7 (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getInstrumentLink&SurvId=4450&SurvVer=1&InstaId=16044&InstaVer=7&lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2).

NLSCY microdata are available through the Research Data Centres (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/rdc-cdr/index-eng.htm) and custom tabulations can be produced on request on a cost recovery basis (I can refer you to an Account Executive in our Toronto regional office if custom tables are of interest). Public use microdata files for this survey haven't been produced since the late 90's due to confidentiality reasons as this is a longitudinal survey.

I also looked at the documentation for the Canadian Internet Use Survey (2007) and General Social Survey cycle 19 on time use but the target populations for these surveys appear to be too old for your needs.

I hope that this is helpful.

Enrolment in Online Courses (Particularly Teachers)

Question

I have a researcher who is looking for the number of people (particularly teachers) who are enrolled in on-line courses across Canada (and, if possible for urban vs rural areas).

So far, I have found the following:

Canadian Internet Use Survey (CIUS) – Has variables for use of the Internet at home for educational purposes and for urban/rural. Does not seem to capture Internet use at work or occupation.

Access and Support to Education and Training Survey (ASETS) – Publication based on this survey seems to indicate variables for distance education use, including delivery by Internet, and occupation.

Adult Education and Training Survey (AETS) – The Training File has variables for mode of delivery, and the Main File has occupation variables.

Some specific questions:

1. A message on the DLI list indicated that work on the ASETS PUMF would start April 2010. Is there an anticipated release date? It is not included in the DLI product release dates list on the DLI site…

2. For AETS, there are two files: the Training File and the Main File. The Training File population seems to be a subset of the Main file population, and there are CASEIDs. I am assuming that the CASEIDs can be used to link between the two files to allow for analysis of variables between files. Can this please be confirmed?

3. Is there anything that I may have missed (as up to date as possible) that can answer this researcher’s question?

Answer

Our contacts for CIUS have provided the following information about data on use of the Internet for educational purposes that were collected via the Canadian Internet Use Survey (CIUS) 2005. If these data are of interest to your client, I would be pleased to refer you to an Account-Executive who can provide additional information on the tables that could be produced, a cost estimate and a production timeline.

"Please note that the Canadian Internet Use Survey (CIUS) is a biennial measure first conducted in 2005. The 2005 CIUS included a questionnaire module on using the Internet for education, training or school work. Please see EU (Education Use) questions on page 18 of the questionnaire: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/imdb-bmdi/instrument/4432_Q1_V6-eng.pdf

Only those survey respondents who answered yes to the filter question ...SU_Q06 During the past 12 months, have you used the Internet at home? ... for education, training or school work ... were asked the more detailed EU module questions. Based on these responses, the following analytic work was prepared: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-004-x/2007004/10375-eng.htm

For the 2007 and 2009 surveys, the EU module was not asked but the filter question remains and it is on the 2007 PUMF. Another limitation is that only home Internet users are asked questions about their personal Internet activities. As such, a school teacher using the Internet to take course either to upgrade skills or required for terms of employment are not technically using it for personal reasons. That said, we have the occupation of survey respondents as the CIUS is a Labour Force Supplement."

I have also asked our education contacts to advise with respect to questions #1 and #2 below and will follow up with more information as soon as possible. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions or if you would like me to put you in touch with an Account-Executive for additional information on custom CIUS tables.

Internet Data at Municipal Level

Question

Looking for data on use of Internet by citizens and businesses for municipalities in Ontario. Researcher wants to know: can we expect CMA level only for this kind of data from Statcan ?

1. For each geographical area, rate of Internet use for citizens.

2. For each geographical area, rate of Internet use for businesses.

3. Type of public access points available within each geographical area (library, internet cafe, etc.)

Answer

The Canadian Internet Use Survey (2005) contains variables to distinguish Toronto, and other rural versus urban areas in Ontario, as well as a number of locations of use (although not specifically internet cafes). It does not, however, cover business use, since it is a survey of households.

I suspect that, for a more specific geographic breakdown of rates of use by municipalities in Ontario, you will need to request a special tabulation.

The Survey of electronic commerce and technology (SECT) seems to attempt to collect comparable data for business - SDDS 4225.
http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=
getSurvey&SDDS=4225&lang=en&db=IMDB&dbg=f&adm=8&dis=2

As far as I can tell, the aggregate stats published from this Survey are available in CANSIM, but only for Canada as a whole, not broken down by province even.

Household Internet Use Survey 2002 codes

Question

In the HIUS2002 file, the variable QUARTILE has values ranging 1 - 9 BUT in the codebook there are only definitions for 1-4. Would anyone have a clear definition for 5-9 that I could pass on to our researcher?

Answers

1. I have just ran a frequency on the variable QUARTILE using "hius2002.sps" over this dataset "HIUS2002_Microdata.txt"

Here is my result:

Income Quartiles

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Quartile 1	8332	26.3	26.3	26.3
	Quartile 2	8218	26.0	26.0	52.3
	Quartile 3	7883	24.9	24.9	77.2
	Quartile 4	7217	22.8	22.8	100.0
	Total	31650	100.0	100.0

2. That's interesting - I get only values 1-4, with the following frequencies:

Income Quartiles
Percent N Value Label
26.3 8,332 1 Quartile 1
26.0 8,218 2 Quartile 2
24.9 7,883 3 Quartile 3
22.8 7,217 4 Quartile 4

Are you sure your researcher is using the right syntax file with the right data?

Canadian Internet Use Survey

Question

Is there a proposed release date for the release of a pumf from the Canadian Internet use survey listed in yesterday's Daily? I don't see it on: http://www.statcan.ca/english/Dli/pumfdates.htm.

Answer

I just spoke with someone in Science, Innovation and Electronic Information Division and she said that the proposed release date for a pumf is January/February 2007 for the Canadian Internet Use Survey. She also mentioned that you could contact Larry McKeown (613-951-2582, larry.mckeown@statcan.ca) for further information.

Access to computers

Question

Can someone please tell me if I am missing something?

A researcher here at UNBC is looking for the numbers of people in Northern BC with access to computers.

My first reaction to this was that anyone in Northern British Columbia with access to a public library will have access to a computer and/or the Internet.

However, I suspect that she means number of people with computers at home or access to the Internet from home. I am going on an assumption here – until I get to talk to this person on Tuesday.

In my preliminary investigations, it seems to me that three surveys have addressed this: the Survey of Household Spending (latest data available is 2003), the Household Internet Use Survey (latest data available is 2003) and the General Social Survey 14: Access to and Use of Information Communication Technology (2000). Relevant data for the Survey of Household Spending is summarized on the BC Stats site at http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/dd/handout/dche.pdf
or in CANSIM table 203-0020.

However, it seems that all these provide data down to the provincial or Census Metropolitan Area level only.

Therefore, I think that she cannot get data for the geography that she wants. Using the PUMFS, she might be able to distinguish rural vs. urban households, but that's it.

Am I missing anything?

Answer

As you noted, the three sources which could assist in answering your user's request will not meet the needs of identifying the Northern BC numbers.

Once again, it is related to the fact that the data was collected as a survey and not a census. The simple explanation is that the survey only sampled a small portion of the population and we can not apply all generalities to small areas without compromising the quality of the data.